OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $20.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 45.71%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.